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Lent 2015

Slider call to action group.

Communities all over the world are struggling to survive in the face of drought, storms and floods.

Mahlet (13) is the girl on this year's Trócaire Box. She comes from a small mountainous village in northern Ethiopia that is suffering from an ongoing extreme water shortage due to climate change. The community are working harder than ever to support themselves, but the unreliable rainfall is making it difficult to grow their crops. Trócaire is working to change this.

With your support we are helping hard working communities in some of the poorest parts of the world to adapt to the changing climate, and grow food for their families to eat. For children like Mahlet, access to water means better health and more nutritious food.

The UK government will match, pound for pound, all public donations to the Lent Campaign in Northern Ireland, up to a maximum of £5 million. This will support programmes in Ethiopia for the next three years and help improve the lives of tens of thousands of people.

Your donation this Lent can support communities to adapt to the challenges of climate change by installing water conservation and irrigation systems. This will help families living in drought to increase their crop harvest and grow more nutritious food to eat.

Where your money goes:91% goes on direct charitable expenditure8% is spent on fundraising and publicity activities1% goes on governance costs

Rains are becoming more erratic and extreme weather more common. This is a silent emergency - the World Health Organisation estimates that the effects of climate change are already responsible for over 150,000 deaths each year.

Ten million people in East Africa faced starvation from drought in 2011, while in 2013, over 6,000 people were killed and four million forced from their homes by Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines.

But how does it affect Ireland and where do we fit in the global picture? ‘Drop in the Ocean?’ talks to some of Ireland’s leading environmental scientists, writers and activists to find out. Find out more about the film and how to organise a screening: www.trocaire.org/drop

2015 is a key year in the fight for climate justice. So far global leaders have failed us. But if we all stand together we can demand the change we want to see in the world! Demand that world leaders take action.

The Lent 2015 educational resources explore climate change as a justice issue, and help students learn about the impact of climate change in both Ireland and Ethiopia. Suitable for smartboard and projector use.

“The Church is likewise conscious of the responsibility which all of us have for our world, for the whole of creation, which we must love and protect.”